Ogilvy & Mather, Dove Want You to ‘Love Your Curls’

As that title suggests, the campaign is aimed at women with curly hair. The campaign is based on Dove’s research finding that only 4 out of 10 girls with curly hair think that their hair is beautiful. “Love Your Curls” begins with interviews with girls who express their dissatisfaction with their curly hair, and that they think straight hair is prettier. It’s tough to watch girls so young dissatisfied with their appearance, but Dove’s research also unearthed a more promising statistic: that curly-haired girls are seven times more likely to love their hair if the people around them do. As the text “The best way to change how they feel about their curls, is to show them how you feel about yours” comes on the screen, girls and their relatives dance through the streets celebrating their curls. They then arrive at a sort of Dove sing-a-long where a group plays and sings a tune with the repetitive chorus, “We all love our curls.”

“The Dove Hair Love Your Curls film reveals an important issue, and Dove Hair has a responsibility to take that finding and instigate positive social change,” Rob Candelino, Unilever’s vice president of marketing for haircare, told Adweek.

Critics of Dove’s marketing tactics have suggested that the brand is manipulative and preys on customers’ insecurities, and will likely take similar issue with this latest effort, but Candelino defended the ad, telling Adweek, “We are a proud leader in redefining how beauty is portrayed and celebrated, and we have been committed to helping make beauty a source of confidence, not anxiety. Building on the scale of the Dove brand, the Dove Hair Love Your Curls campaign reveals the opportunity that all women have to set a positive tone for the next generation.”